The Worst Nightmare
by Arleen
Summary: The Resistance gets Windows installed. How will they cope with it?.. Read to find out! :)
1. Chapter 1

Unofficial and official disclaimers, intros and other stuff no one ever reads: My first. well, actually second. or more like third. attempt at humor. Please R&R. Constructive criticism, unconstructive criticism, constructive uncriticism and unconstructive uncriticism, everything appreciated. I don't own the Matrix. And neither do you, unless you're. um, forgot their names. But you aren't them, right? Good enough? I don't even own the characters in this story, though they aren't from the movies. They're pennames of people in my guild. So, much thankies to Genko and Theta, whose nicknames I'm using without their permission :) A quick note: Genko is an operator, Theta is a pilot. Also much and many thankies to my sister who edited this story and saved it from being any more horrible than it already is.  
OK, on with the story.  
  
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"As good as dead. There's nothing more we can do."  
"But there has to be," shouted Genko, staring at his screen and punching buttons.  
"We tried everything we could. We have to pull the plug."  
"But-" He stopped arguing as his screen went black. Theta plugged the computer back in. The screen came back to life, showing a picture far too bright and colorful for the two humans' mood.  
"I was sure I could get it to unfreeze," Genko grumbled.  
Theta sighed. "I've read a lot about this sort of system before. Once Windows3000 freezes, it will never unfreeze."  
  
The screen displayed a blue bar, its left edge slowly turning yellow. A window popped up.  
"One percent loaded. Continue? (y/n)"  
  
Genko banged the "y" button as if it was an agent's head. "Who programmed this thing?!"  
  
A pleasant computer-generated voice replied, "Windows3000, the latest version, was developed by Pamela Carter and Stanley Roberts. It contains new superior options, including 3D Matrix code display, optimized ..."  
  
Genko turned off the speakers. "Oh, so it listens in on conversations as well?"  
Theta shook her head. "This is an auto-run introduction. It's played every time the system loads."  
"Wonderful," Genko muttered, mentally cursing Pamela Carter and Stanley Roberts. His gaze fell on the screen, where a new pop-up was waiting. "Two percent loaded. Continue? (y/n)"  
Genko punched "y" again, only to get the same message about three percent.  
  
The operator rolled his eyes. "I don't believe this. Does it do that for every percent it loads?"  
"Apparently," replied Theta. "However, there might be an antidote."  
  
She took a small piece of metal from the table and put it on the keyboard, over the "y" button. The annoying window disappeared. As soon as the next one popped up, it was gone as well.  
  
Genko looked at Theta with admiration. "You're a genius."  
But at that exact moment the computer started beeping loudly.  
  
"I thought I turned the speakers off," shouted Genko over the annoying alarm-clock sound.  
  
Theta was already reading the manual that came with the new computer and installation disk. With a barely audible sigh she took the weight off the button. The beeping stopped.  
  
"Version 3.2 has been equipped with an extra emergency speaker," Theta read aloud from the booklet. "If one or more buttons are held down for more than 4.5 seconds, it will ring to wake the operator up in case he fell asleep, fainted, or died on his keyboard."  
"Cheerful," Genko muttered. "How do we turn it off?"  
"We can't. As a security precaution, it was built into the CPU. Unless we dismantle it, which would require dismantling of the whole computer, it will remain intact for as long as the computer is powered. There might be a way to fool the software, but we can't do anything until the system is loaded."  
  
"Eleven percent loaded. Continue? (y/n)"  
"OK, we'll have to cope with it," Genko decided, restoring the piece on the button.  
The Delphi once again became filled with ringing.  
  
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In about an hour Genko looked up at the screen and saw that the computer finally loaded. With a happy yelp he took the piece of metal off the button and then took off his headset. It provided at least some protection against the ringing.  
  
He looked at Theta triumphantly and announced "It loaded!" in a voice hoarse from shouting.  
  
The pilot looked at the screen as well. "It seems something has been damaged during the rebooting process."  
  
Looking at the monitor again, Genko had to agree that was true. The screen was filled with unfamiliar shortcuts, graphs, a few windows playing Windows3000 commercials, a background showing an agent about to shoot a human, and to top it all off it was all in black and white.  
Genko sank into his chair. "I don't believe this..."  
  
Theta flipped through the manual for a while, and then her agentish voice gave an explanation. "I believe that after it loaded it provided us with a choice of special options. Since we replied 'yes' to everything, all these features must now be active."  
The operator groaned. "All of them? Then this is only the beginning! I bet when we try to view the Matrix coding it will show every symbol as a collection of butterflies!"  
"No," replied Theta, reading the booklet. "However, it will be 3-D."  
  
Genko sighed and pressed a few buttons. The computer didn't respond. He tried again, but nothing changed. "Frozen again," he complained to Theta.  
  
She watched the screen where the commercials were still playing, then reached out and turned the speakers on. An explosion of sound followed. Theta quickly turned them off again. Then another window popped up. "You haven't been active for 1 minute. Do you wish to continue working?"  
  
"It doesn't seem to be frozen," she commented. "Must be another feature."  
She looked through the manual again until she found what she was looking for. "We are aware that core computers don't use joysticks, but for those who would like to change that tradition we created this choice."  
  
Genko always thought of himself as a patient person, but now he was starting to doubt that assumption. "Do we even HAVE a joystick?"  
Theta shook her head. "Not a computer one. It was assumed that core computers don't need one, so we weren't provided with it."  
"What does that leave us with," the operator asked, dreading the answer.  
"Rebooting."  
  
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Again, please review. And tell me if I should continue it. (I already plan to continue, I just don't want to post it if it bores people to death.) Thanks for reading. 


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Five reviews for one chapter! Thanks a lot, everyone. Aaand, here's chapter two! Uhh... seven months after chapter 1...  
  
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, and thanks again to my sister who edited this.  
  
I dedicate this chapter, or actually this whole story, to Genko and Theta, who unfortunately disappeared from the guild. We miss you a lot. *sniff* (I know that didn't make much sense for all you non-Exiles out there... Just ignore it.) -------------------------------  
  
Genko looked at the screen, his hand hovering over the keyboard. "93%... 94%... 95..." he muttered, even though he couldn't hear himself over the ringing. He looked like a cat watching a mouse, ready to jump.  
The operator's hand shot out and grabbed the piece of metal off the button. "Ninety-nine percent loaded. Continue? (y/n)" window stayed on the screen. Genko pressed the "y" button and took his headset off.  
Theta looked at it. "The current situation is making me regret not having chosen to become an operator," she commented.  
Genko smiled. "You can have the headset for a while if we have to reboot again." Pressing "y" one final time, he started reading through all the pop-ups and pressing "n". "Black and white... New features coming up in the next version..? 3-D codes? Agent backgrounds and screen-savers?! Are they crazy?!"  
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Theta, could you fill in for me for a while? My head's exploding."  
The pilot walked over to the computer and started reading quickly though the features. "I believe this is all useless to us. I am tempted to press 'n' continuously, but some things later on might be useful."  
"This? Useful? Quit dreaming," Genko advised. He picked up his headset, waged a quick inward battle, and handed it to Theta, then picked up the piece of metal and put it on the "n" button.  
The ocean of pop-ups quickly started to dissipate. In a minute only five of them were left, then four, three...  
Genko gasped and knocked the piece of metal off the keyboard, but it was too late. The computer powered down.  
For once Theta looked surprised. Seeing her expression Genko almost smiled. "I'm not sure, it was gone too quickly, but I think it said something like 'are you sure you want the computer to load?'"  
  
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Three hours later, having learned all the start-up traps, Genko and Theta finally rebooted the computer without any adventures.  
  
Matrix coding loaded easily and looked perfectly normal, and Genko was almost starting to cheer up. But then he looked at the screen more closely and his jaw dropped.  
  
He was an operator for long enough to be able to see the mental images without having to decipher the symbols, and now a truly horrid picture appeared before him mind's eye.  
  
Everything was out of place. An old man had only one eye, and a woman walking beside him had her face on the back of her head. A dog without legs was hovering in the air, chasing a dog-legged cat.  
  
Genko squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, the computer displayed a message.  
  
"Error 13666. Press any key to reboot. Press 'i' to ignore. Press 'd' to debug."  
  
Genko sighed. "Theta, could you look if there's anything in the manual about error 13666?"  
  
The pilot flipped through the booklet and then read aloud, " It is a well- known fact that the Matrix programming routinely encounters errors and glitches. In the past, this, together with multi-channeling of data, caused representation symbols to be distorted. In Windows3000 the possibility of those glitches affecting your perception is minimized, so the operator's work isn't disturbed by the Matrix's bug-filled programming. As soon as you switch from old DOS or LINUX to Windows3000, you will never encounter error 13666 again."  
  
Genko rubbed his temples. "Helpful, isn't it?"  
  
"Extremely," replied Theta. "I believe we should try to debug. "  
  
The operator nodded. "Yea, let's see what's inside this... thing. It's better than rebooting, and definitely better than trying to work while the readings are jumping all over the place."  
  
He pressed "d". The computer powered down.  
  
"Oh," he muttered. "I should've guessed. 'Any key' includes 'd', doesn't it?"  
  
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Well, here's an extra short chapter! :) Please leave a review, and I'll send you a virtual muffin!  
  
Review replies:  
  
Agent Embar – Thank you for reviewing! And not only this, everything else as well.  
  
Riffraff - Heh. Glad you share my point of view. Thanks or reviewing!  
  
maestro3 - Thanks for your review. And I like your story! When do you plan to continue it, anyway?  
  
Demented Peach – Many many and even more thanksies for reviewing absolutely everything! And for introducing me to this site in the first place. And for all the wonderful stories you write. But you don't have to review here. I mean, you're in the guild, and you tell me what you think there. Repeating yourself in the reviews must be pretty boring. Still, thanks loads.  
  
Alocin - Wow! Alocin reviewed my story! THE Alocin! The one who wrote "Project Koala" and "Freeway Frolicks"! Thank you sooo much! One of these drinking birds, eh? Heh, that'd work. Didn't think of that. 


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